Archives

Tag Archive

Ahhh, I get some sort of wacko geo-geek-high from writing these particular blog posts on “fake crystals” in my Fakes Series! Thanks for letting me indulge myself once again. You can catch my previous posts in this series here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

I chose today’s featured fakes b/c these seem to be showing up quite often at the gem shows & in my student forums or in our various Hibiscus Moon Private Facebook Groups. I feel it’s most definitely my duty to keep our community informed on this schist.

Now, if you choose to work with man-made crystals that’s totally fine. No judgements from me on that. I, personally, choose not to.

But, I do think its very important that you know what you’re getting & that you not be fooled & that you KNOW geologically exactly what you’re working with.

So let’s get to it!Charoite
High grade authentic charoite from Russia on the left vs. fake Chinese Fluorite (sold as charoite on ebay on the right)

BEWARE: Chinese fluorite is being sold as “Chinese Charoite”, claiming a new deposit discovered in China. It’s BOGUS. They really look nothing alike to me so I’m surprised this is actually duping people. Some people have been taking low grade Chinese purple fluorite & polishing it up to sell as dupes. You’ll notice that these “Chinese Charoite” fakes have a lot of white in them & no swirly pattern, in fact the purple layers in these fakes have a very angular pattern to them.

As you can see in the above photo, high grade chaorite is vibrantly purple with very little white + a gorgeous unusual swirly purple pattern. All authentic charoite comes from Russia from the Chara River region. It’s the only place in the world where it’s found & its very rare, hence a hefty price.So price point can be a good indicator of a fake.

Real high-grade Russian charoite for sale at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show

The “Chinese Chaorite” started rearing its head big-time about 5 years ago.

You can determine if your piece is fluorite with a UV light & a scratch test being that charoite is harder than fluorite…(something our Advanced Crystal Masters are well-versed on).
Cinnabar Infused Quartz

Cinnabar crystals also a tough crystal to come by in large quantities or in large pieces. But the fakes? Oh…very easy to come by! I’ve seen many with the name, Cinnabar-Infused Quartz or sometimes they called them cherry + or strawberry quartz (which can also be glass-infused as discussed in Part 1). *Beware the mercury content in cinnabar.*

These were all being sold as “Natural Cinnabar-Infused-Quartz”
Hibiscus Moon Advanced Crystal Master, Mary Oquendo, shows a cinnabar-infused cut & polished quartz point.

Although cinnabar & quartz do grow together naturally it’s usually not in a pretty swirl as seen in the above photos. When it is actually cinnabar, it’s often reconstituted (melted & mixed with other stuffs) with clear quartz & then can have plastics & binders added to it. Sometimes, the creators of this stuff may even add some selenium (Se) to get a more red crystal.

Here’s my big beef with all of this. If the quartz & cinnabar (if there’s any real cinnabar being added at all) are being reconstituted (hence melted down)…then all you’re doing is creating man-made silica glass. So this is no longer holding a crystalline molecular structure = IT’S NO LONGER A CRYSTAL.

And all of this may be totally OK with you. I just prefer my crystals to be actual CRYSTALS and to be 100% Mama Earth made.

But that’s just moi.

Goldstone
Goldstone, aka “aventurine glass”, is another man-made glass “gem” that’s been hangin’ around for quite a long time…since the 17th century! It’s very pretty so I can certainly see why. Check this sparkly baby out!!

Ooooo, Sparkly…but FAKE! (Photo credit: GDK)

There’s a legend that this “stone” came about when some Venetian glass-working monks accidentally dumped some molten copper into the melted glass they were working with.

The process is a bit more complicated but here’s what goes into it:

After the molten copper is poured into the molten glass …

It’s sealed off air-tight & kept at a specific temperature that’s hot enough to maintain in liquid state while still allowing the copper crystals to grow in the solution but not melting back again

Then the solution is cooled forming 1 solid mass

The cooled mass is broken open for cutting & polishing

The result is teeny crystallized specks of copper strewn throughout the glass, reflecting & sparkling up a storm. Although usually a golden coppery color, I’ve seen “goldstone” come in all colors, based on the elements added in the process.

I’m sure you have many opinions of your own to share about my “Featured Fakes” here today. You know I always welcome a mature & respectful debate, so please do comment below. Or if you’d simply just like to share your thoughts, that’s welcome too!

When I posted a photo on my FB page of 1 of my recent crystal growing specimens, I got a ton of questions asking how, how, how?

So, if you’re one of those who always wanted to know how to grow your own crystals, this is the blog post for you!

You know I love my crystals for their healing props but I feel it’s really important to also get to know them in a different way; to learn how & why they grow, how Mama Earth cooks them up in her kitchen. This FUN activity gives us a little insight into that process. And you end up with some drop-dead gorgeous crystals in the end!

Plus this gives me a good excuse to geek out all the way!!

I know from many years in my old science classroom days that kids, teenagers (& adults!) really enjoy seeing the crystallization MAGIC at work! So, pretty sure you’re gonna eat this up with a spoon!

So first…

What’s a geode?

Basically, geodes are round rocks that have a hollow interior usually from a gas bubble, in which some sort of usually volcanic hydrothermal fluids got trapped in. These hollows create the perfect crystal growing environment since they usually contain a supersaturated crystal growing solution (Yes, I know…CRAZY-GEEK-FEST terms! I explain what that is in the featured video…but, Yo! you’ll love it…that’s a little hint).

Geodes can take thousands or even millions of years to grow…but these babies will only take a couple of days. How lucky are you?!

HOLIDAY VARIATIONS

Halloween: how about a fluorescent twist? Just sub the water & food coloring solution with glow water

Oh! In case you didn’t know…I have a slight obsession with the TV show Breaking Bad…just a slight, barely there kind of thing. 😉 Yes, even without TV I managed to get completely addicted to it.
How To Grow Your Own Crystal Geodes – Step by Step

Click here for my FREE printable PDF of the step-by-step instructions!
So are you amazed that Mother Earth takes these (yet much more complicated) steps stretched over a longer period of time & creates over 4500 different types of minerals & crystals and has been doing so for the better part of 4.6 billion years!? I KNOW I AM! Completely & totally amazed & respectful of the entire process.

I hope you have a ton fun trying this out all on your own or with your kids or some friends. If you do try it out please post your results on my FB page or comment below & let us know how it worked out or if you discovered any cool tips to share! I’ll add them to this post so all the Crystal Hotties can benefit!

Happy Crystal Growing!!

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, please share it along so others can try this out with us & share in the FUN!!

Working in the crystal biz, I’ve been presented with ethics related questions regarding crystals & being a both a student & teacher of geology, I’ve had the opportunity to ask & explore the topic deeply.

I take this very seriously so this will be more of a serious post Sweet Peas.

For years I’ve found myself having to defend mineral collecting against environmental activists (of which I consider myself to be one). some of whom claim that crystal & mineral collecting is causing major destruction to our planet while also related to slavery + poor living conditions .

I think there may be some confusion between mineral & crystal collecting VS. mining for precious gems (diamonds, rubies, emeralds) & industrial ore (coal, aluminum, tin, etc). That stuff is not what I’m speaking of when we speak of mineral & crystal collecting AKA “specimen mining”.

In my extensive research I’ve found that specimen mining usually has little or no DIRECT impact on our planet. Often times, specimens are collected as a by product to ore mining where mines have been dug to get at coal, copper, aluminum, gold, etc. for other items our society seems to have no problem with. In addition, some of what is sold on the market are simply recycled specimens from estate sales. The ULTIMATE in recycling!There is a HUGE difference here.
Industrial ore mining & mining for precious gems does require heavy blasting, strip mining & sometimes leads to poor living or working conditions. Slavery comes into play most definitely with conflict minerals. What the heck are conflict minerals?

THIS IS SOMETHING I IMPLORE YOU TO EDUCATE YOURSELF ON & THEN PLEASE PLEDGE TO SHARE THIS WITH 3 PEOPLE. WATCH & READ ON:

If you’re concerned about human conditions in relation to the mining of minerals then the very minerals used in our computers & cell phones are the ones we need to concern ourselves with:

I do try to choose a tech company that makes a conscious effort to minimize its use of conflict minerals. Are your electronics conflict free? None are 100%. Please check yours here now & if they’re not please email your tech company directly from the site to make your voice heard! This is so easy to do, doesn’t cost you a dime & is a great way for us to initiate changes.

Then make sure you vote with your $ next time you need to purchase a computer or cell phone.

Vote with the $$!!

So, now let’s educate. This is what goes on in a specimen mine:

This is what mining for quartz looks like at Ron Coleman’s mine in Arkansas

Mining for quartz in Georgia

Larger Quartz operation in Brazil

Mining for aquamarine & emerald in Mexico

Aquamarine in Africa

Digging for amethyst in Kuridala Queensland, Australia

Digging for Topaz in Utah

Mining for quartz in Brazil

Yes, these methods cause some scarring & not all specimen mining is as kind to the Earth as this. Sometimes explosives are used to crack a stubborn rock. However, we’re not talking about massive strip mining & its usually just meters of rock & not very deep. Specimen mining really doesn’t have much of an impact on the environment, but commercial mining for ore is a totally different story. Then there’s the subjective question of “what is damage?” Of course, there’ll be a certain amount of digging or rock breaking. Nature would do the same thing through ice wedging & erosion. Or given enough time, much more destructive Mama Earth forces.

What about farming & urbanization? I feel those are much bigger disturbances to our planet…however less unavoidable.

Yes, child labor & poor work conditions may be a problem in countries where there’s less regulation due to weak or corrupt governments. And sometimes there is no way for us to know who exactly mined a crystal or picked our food for that matter! Unless we were there or did it ourselves! Yep, that is a problem sometimes but its true for anything is it not?

However, war & rape going on over crystal mining? No.

For our ipads & cell phones? Yes!!!

We don’t like to hear that do we? But we can change this. Please let these tech companies know that this is not OK.

Here’s a recent interview I did with Joanna DeVoe on the topic. I thank her for doing this & for spurring me on to finally finish this blog post! As you’ll see…I’m really passionate about this!

Now, not all ore mining companies are BAD. Some do make a good effort to generate sustainable employment for the communities they operate in as well as have to meet strict requirements to back fill & reclaim the land they’ve destroyed….but, again…this is industrial ore mines…not specimen mining. Sometimes, in a war-torn & weary area, specimen mining is one of the only legit income opportunities the people there can hope for.

Then we have THE ROCK CYCLE. Guess what happens to crystal specimens that aren’t collected? Mother Earth recycles them. Of course, I’m not saying grab all you can b/c they’ll all be destroyed if you don’t but I do feel that we can be free to work with these very special crystal healing tools. They’ll eventually go back to the Mama Earth’s kitchen & more will be created no matter how powerful we think we are.
Lesson in The Rock Cycle

So, please get involved. Inform others about Conflict Minerals. Email your tech companies & tell them what you think. Is your techy stuff as conflict free as you can make it? Do you agree or disagree with me? I’m always open to hearing other sides…as long as we keep it mature & respectful. I’d love to hear about your efforts or what you think!!

Crystal Blessings & Welcome to the Hibiscus Moon Crystal Academy!

This is the place where the Crystal Hotties come to learn about the art & science of crystal healing. We enjoy exploring the physics & metaphysics behind crystal healing while having loads of FUN. The academy is taught by me, Hibiscus Moon, best-selling author of the book Crystal Grids: How and Why They Work. We also have courses for becoming a Certified Crystal Healer. I hope you enjoy your sparkly journey with crystal energy healing!